halloween, et cetera

Hey Gray, nice, uh, sweatuh.

Is it bad that I got the camera and took a picture before I helped this little guy up? I guess his little legs are a bit too strong.

This is what I got when I asked her to say cheese. Kate loves this jacket. It's very soft fleece and super cute on her. And I got it for $3 at Savers. Cha-ching!

Kate kept running away from me when I got out the camera. She looked so cute I just wanted a picture. So I waited in the hall until she came running back and snapped this one.

Halloween! Colin was so excited, even though he had no idea what was going to happen. Kate was just happy to be in the dinosaur costume. This is the best picture I got of the two of them. Kate wouldn't stop looking at Colin's 'stache. He sure did make an adorable Luigi.

And here's our little Mario. Gray was very grumpy, so this is the best picture I got of him. It was bedtime for the poor buddy.

First stop—Granny and Papa's house. Papa made them take like 5 pieces each. They were willing to oblige.

The best picture I got of Mario and Luigi.

The three kids with Granny, everyone cooperating and looking at the camera. Good job!

Colin and Kate both loved Trick or Treating. They were very good and stayed with me. They said, "Trick or treat," at each door, and even remembered to say, "Thank you," most of the time. Kate roared like a dinosaur when asked. When we would leave she would look at me and say, "He gave me a treat!" It was adorable. And they are both so young that they didn't feel gypped that we just went around the block and only hit a few houses. They got to see some of their favorite neighbors, so they were happy. I got to eat all of their chocolate, so I was happy. Nate got to stay home with Gray and not answer the door, so he was happy.

Gray is very attached to this blue bunny. He stares at it and talks to it all the time.

Gray was looking so handsome the other day that I wanted a picture. I propped him up on my pillow, but he kept trying to sit up, which was evidently a lot of work so he just grunted and did not smile.

Colin as Milleficent. Or Prince Phillip. Or maybe Batman.

Kate changes her clothes several times a day. Yesterday she was wearing a long sleeved yellow shirt inside-out. On top of that was the pink printed shirt backwards. She refused to put on pants. I did something to offend her, so she wouldn't look at me.

She was very mad.

She tried to ignore me.

And then I said something about candy that captured her attention. She decided she could be my friend again if it meant she got a treat.

Handsome Gray.

In other news, everyone in our house had the stomach flu last weekend. I threw up all night Thursday. (Which was super fun while trying to nurse Gray. It didn't seem to phase him when I puke while feeding him though. He just kept on doing his thing.) Nate stayed home on Friday to help me with the kids, and he threw up Friday night. Saturday we felt better but the kids were snot-nosed and whiney. Beginning of the week brought diarrhea for Colin and Kate. (Kate made the biggest, most disgusting mess ever in her crib Monday night.) That spread to me and the kids downstairs on Thursday. And then Friday I got hit with a massive cold. Colin has had a cough for the last few days as well. Huzzah for sickness! Gray has escaped mostly unharmed. He has a bit of a stuffed up nose, but he's doing fine. So far Nate has escaped the cold part. It will be fun to see what next week brings. Also, how did we even get sick in the first place? We don't go anywhere or have any friends or interact with people in any way. Hmmm. A mystery for sure.

my other blog

This is my other blog. If you love me you will go to it and click to become a follower. You don't have to read it if you don't want to, but I would appreciate it if you would tell your friends and stuff so I could get more followers and look cool.

why doesn't anyone update their blogs?

I kept looking at my family members' blogs, hoping someone would update them so I would have something new to look at. I was just about to pass judgment when I realized that I haven't updated mine for a while either. Oops. My bad.

Here's an update so I can go back to judging others for not updating.

Don't look at me like that. I was bored and the kids were asleep and that mustache was just begging to be modeled.

The Joy of Painting.

Can you see the happy trees?

The many faces of my handsome Gray.

Brothers! And farmers! When Colin saw that Gray was wearing overalls (which he often does because they are his only pants) he insisted on wearing his too.

The many faces of my handsome Gray.

This is so you can see just how big he is getting.

Oh Colin. You are a hoot.

Oh Kate. You are completely bonkers.

We always read stories before the kids go to bed. Nate is usually the one reading because I am usually trying to keep Gray happy. Nate and I like to say the wrong words throughout the books because Colin gets upset and corrects us with the right words. It makes us laugh. And it makes the same old books a little more entertaining.

On Saturday we went to the semi-lame pumpkin patch in Springville. They had some animals, a hay bale maze, and a corn pit for the kiddies. We also bought Kate and Colin pumpkins.

A sleepy kangaroo.

The biggest pig I have ever seen in my life. It was twice the size of the small horses in the next pen.

Gray was crying, Colin wasn't paying attention, I wasn't looking at the camera, but at least Kate was smiling.

The corn pit (for lack of a better name). It was pretty sweet. Just a bunch of dried corn kernels framed with some hay bales. The kids loved it. It took them a few minutes to figure out the best way to play in it, but they had a great time. Kate even let me cover her legs—but only for a second.

Last night for FHE we let the kids paint their pumpkins. Colin wanted to carve his, but I convinced him that painting was better because he could do it himself. If he wanted the pumpkin carved then Daddy would have to do it. He opted to do it himself. Nate was worried about them getting paint all over themselves, the counter, and the chairs, but turns out his worries were in vain. They did great and had a great time.

Colin's is the one with the scary face.

Not much else going on these days. I'm a little sleep deprived, but it's becoming the norm and I'm dealing with it. I just need to learn how to not shout and lose my patience because that's what I tend to do when I haven't had enough sleep. I'm really trying to be more attentive to the kids and to try and find new, fun things to do with them so they don't get bored. (Any suggestions?) When they get bored they get naughty, and that's not good for anyone.

Gray is getting so big. He isn't a super chunk yet, but he's so much bigger than the other two kids were that he sure seems like a chunk. He loves to be talked to—he'll smile and coo and wriggle with glee. He also likes to look at his toys, and he'll be reaching out and grabbing them any day now. During tummy time he prefers to suck on his blanket or his fists instead of practicing lifting his head or rolling over. He also loves to poop, which is a welcome relief after Colin and Kate. He likes to move and bounce and stand and be carried around. He likes to go for walks in the stroller. He sometimes sleeps really well, and he sometimes doesn't. He's had lots of phlegm in his nose and throat lately, which makes it harder for him to sleep. He obviously loves to eat. I love him.

Kate loves to give Gray hugs and kisses. She'll follow me around saying, "Give hugs. Hug Gray. Very soft." Whenever he cries she is right there in his face saying, "It's okay, Gray. It's okay." Her speech is improving every day. She parrots everything anyone says. When she knows she in trouble she'll run away and say, "No spank me, Mom." Except she's not so good with the p sound so it comes out, "No shank me, Mom." That makes me laugh. She has to do everything herself. Her current catchphrase is, "I do it."And she does. Kate is always asking me to sing songs again. She loves to do the actions and to chime in when she knows the words. The Cougar Fight Song is one of her favorites. She refuses to sit down in her chair during meals, and I'm going crazy telling her to get off of the counter and back in her seat. I'd strap her into a booster, but she can get right out so it doesn't do any good. When I tell her to sit down she says, "No say sit down to me, Mommy." The back talk has started already and she's not even 2 yet. Blerg. But I love her.

Colin is hilarious. His imagination cracks me up, but it also can annoy me to death. If I don't call him by the name of whoever he is pretending to be, he will correct me. And he refuses to comply with whatever it is I'm asking him to do until I call him Peter Pan, or Batman, or Simba, or The Handsome Phoebus, or Friedrich, or Shang, or whoever it is at the moment. He is learning a lot in Joy School, most importantly how to listen and obey directions and how to interact with kids his age. Colin questions everything and isn't satisfied until you've given him a long and detailed answer. He grows more and more mischievous by the day. He's constantly testing his boundaries, but I do feel like he's learning what's acceptable and what isn't. He loves to sing songs with me, especially when we are in the car. He wants to know what everyone's name is, including every stranger we pass throughout the day. He likes to help me cook. He still likes to be outside digging in the dirt. He wants to do whatever his dad is doing. He cut Kate's bangs when they were at the neighbor's house the other day. But I love him.

Gray 2 months

Gray

12 pounds 15 ounces

23.75 inches

Colin
11 pounds 13 ounces
23.5 inches

Kate
10 pounds 15 ounces
23 inches long

Looks like we have ourselves a chubby little winner! Gray loves to eat, can you tell? Everyone is crying, and dinner is boiling over, so that's all for now.

twenty pictures with short captions

I know I have pictures of Colin sleeping on the couch like this, so I thought I should take some of Gray too.

When Kate decides to accessorize, she really goes all out.

Surprise! It's Gray! And he's handsome!

Kate holding her baby. I think they were running away from the Bad Queen. I laugh every time she says, "Run away!"

I love it when they play Legos together. Also, we were building trains and mine is the sweet one in the middle with the cactus and elephant and polar bear and slab of meat.

You stay classy, Kate.

Colin got a couple of hand-me-downs from a neighbor, and this winner was in there. He put it on and said, "This is a basketball shirt. Now I can go play basketball with the big boys!" Then he ran downstairs to tell the boys he was ready to play basketball with them.

My cloth diapers are ridiculously cute, especially on Gray's little bum.

Watching a show yesterday. They insisted on the hoodies.

My baby is crazy handsome. Disagree if you dare. (And I mean he's super handsome, not crazy and handsome.)

We got a crapload of snow yesterday—at least it seemed like a lot considering that it was like 90 degrees last week. Bleh. But I was a cool mom and let the kids go outside and play. I even went out with them for a while.

She makes funny faces.

Not sure if he's using that as a lawn mower or a snow blower.

Daddy came home and built a snowman with the kids. Today it fell over and Kate said, "He's sleeping. Shhh."

A preview of what's to come this Halloween. He'll have on real shoes then. And I'll fix the way the mustache attaches. I'm not pleased with it yet. Colin was invited to a dress up birthday party and Ethan's friend's house. Kate got to go too, and they both had fun. Kate was a dinosaur (courtesy of Cousin Donovan).

things colin says take two...

Colin: Who's the leader?
Me: I am.
Colin: No, I'm the leader. Boys are leaders. Girls are girls.

things colin says...

Colin loves to play pretend. He likes to be different characters from books and movies. He also likes to assign characters to the rest of the family. Some days he'll be Simba, and I'm Sirabi, and Nate is Mufasa, Kate is Nala (but none of his uncles are Scar because Scar is mean and his uncles are nice); other days he is Prince Phillip, and Kate is Maleficent, and I am Sleeping Beauty; he also likes to be Dopey, I'm Snow White, and Kate is Grumpy; you get the idea. This morning we were all assigned new characters, as inspired by a pair of hand-me-down Star Wars pajamas.

Colin: I'm Obi Wan Kenobi!
Me: Great. Have fun with that. Who am I?
Colin: You're Obi Two Kenobi! And Gray is Obi Three. And Daddy is Yoda. And Kate is Star Wars.

We all had a good laugh.